Car vestibule and door arrangement



April22,1930. E.'F.ARY 1,7 5,239

CAR VESTIBULE AND DOOR ARRANGEMENT Filed Oct. 8. 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 OOOOOOOOQ 00009 9 OOO oooooooo Q OOOOOOOOOOOOQQQQ April 22, 1930. E. F. CARRY CAR VESTIBULE AND DOOR ARRANGEMENT Filed 001;. 8, 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 AprilZZ, 1930. E. F. CARRY I CAR VESTIBULE AND DOOR ARRANGEMENT Filed Oct. 8, 1928 4 Sheets-Sheet s 10 -ITufen 7' lbufardfav g April 22, 1930.

E. F. CARRY CAR VESTIBULE AND DOOR ARRANGEMENT 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Oct. 8, 1928 esswwos Q. 'hispg 'OT Patented Apr. 1930 UNITED, STATES -EDWARD- F. CARRY, OF GHIGAGO, ILLINOIS CAB VESTIB'ULE DOOR ARRANGEMENT Application filed October 8, 1928. Serial No. 811,114

The invention relates to vestibule and door constructions and arrangements designed to provide a safety closure for the vest1bule platforms of railway passenger-tram cars.

In the operation of passenger trams, a member of the train crew and sometimes a passenger \will occasionally open the vestibule side door to look up and down the length to possible injury as a result of the ractice.

To overcome the hazards atten ing the opening of the single or full length vestibule side doors heretofore employed, this invention contemplates the use of horizontally divided side doors arranged with upper and lower sections so disposed, constructed, and equipped that the upper. section alone may be opened independently of the other section by 5 means operable only from the inside of the car, and the lower section opened only after the upper section has been unlocked the purf opening adapted for operation only pose being to avoid the necessity o the whole door while the train is in motion.

The foregoing and other objects are attained by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a side elevational viewof a passenger car vestibule fitted with a sectional safety door in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal'seetional View taken vertically through the vestibule platform of,

the car, and an inside elevational view of th Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view 'ofi-the lock joint between the door sections on an em larged scale, taken on line" 3-3 of Fig. 2,

looking in the direction indicated by the arrows;

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view trans-.

versely through the car vestibule taken on line 44 of Fig. 2, ,lookin in the direction indicated by the arrows, s owing the general relation between the vestibule ceiling plate,

safety door with. both sections in closed posl floor of the vestibule platform, and 12 the the two sections of the door when-closed, and the trap door, and depicting the latch fulcrumed on the ceiling plate for holding th door closed; a

Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section similar to Fig. 2 but showing the door opened against the car end wall with the trap door raised and locked to the lower door section and the upper section held open by a latch on the ceiling plate;

Fig. 6 is a vertical view similar to Fig. 4 but showing the upper section of the door opened and locked against the car end wall and the companion lower section locked in closed position;

Fig. 7 is a horizontal sectional view through the vestibule taken on line 77 of Fig. 6,

looking in the direction indicated by the arrows, showing the closed lower section in plan and the upper section in its open locked position against the end wall of the car;

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary vertical section through the end wall ad a'cent the keeper showing the lock of the lower door section in locking engagement therewith; and

Fig. 9 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view through the free edge of the lower section of the door showin the latch lock om the outside. of the car. 7

In the practice of the invention, the door sections are so formed and equipped with respect to each other and the associated. vestibule structure as toconstitute in such assembly a safety side door, designed to safeguardthe'lives and persons of passengers "and crew from the dangers incident to the openin "of the present single vestibule side doors uring car movement, and further to prevent unlawful entry to the car as will hereinafter appear.

. In the drawings, 10 represents the end wall of the car. forming one side of the platform vestibule, 11 indicates the stationary trap' doors. The opposite wall of the vestibule is represented at 13, the opening between thevestibule walls being closed by side 0 doors secured in sections to the end wall 10 and opening inwardly, both upper section 14 and lower section 15 being mounted on hinges 16 secured to the end wall as best indicated in Figs. 2, 4, and 7 Both sections engage door jambs 17 and 18 formed respectively in the corner and vestibule posts 19 and 20 when the vestibule doors are in closed position, and when swung to open position against. the end wall 10 of the car they will enter the recess created by the protruding corner post jambs 17 and end posts 21, as shown in Fig. 7.

To the end that the vestibule doors shall function to protect the persons and property of those aboard the car, the lower edge of the upper section .14 is provided with an outwardly facing abutment portion 22 adapted to overlap the contiguous upper edgeportion of the lower section 15 of the door. The abutment face 22 may be formed by shaping the lower margin of the framework of the upper section itself, if desired, but is preferably constructed from separate strap pieces 23 secured to the inner face of said section at the lower margin thereof with a portion of the strap piece 23 depending below the marginal edge of the upper section and overlapping the contiguous upper margin of the lower section to provide the necessary abutment face 22 as indicated in Figs. 2 to 6 inclusive. Thus arranged, the upper section 14 becomes efiective to prevent inward move- I ment of the companion lower section 15 until released by the manipulation of locks disposed in the relation presently to be de scribed.

With the doors arranged and locked as herein contemplated, it would be impossible for a person on the platform of'the car to simultaneously release both sections of the vestibule door since but'one section at a time can be opened, the upper one first, by the manipulation of locks widely separated and upon opposite sides of the door, and on different sections. The upper section 14 is held i closed by locks operable only from the inside of the car, the gravity lock 26, in the present embodment, being attached to the vestibule ceiling plate 25 in position to engage a keeper block 27 on the door as best shown in Figs.

2, 4, and 6. Thus positioned the lockis not accessible to persons outside the car, the section being releasable only bythe manipulation of said lock 26 and a pull on handle 24 secured to the inner face of the door as indicated in Fig. 2.

The lock 30 on the outside of the lower section 15 is made accessible to persons on the platform by reaching over the upper edge of the lower section and manipulating the lock only after the upper section has been un locked and opened, but with the train in motion this operation would serve no useful urpose. Since there would be no occasion or opening the lower section 15 except at terminals or in emergencies elsewhere, and

mally closed and as it carries no locks on the inside it cannot beaccidentally opened, thereby insuring a positive safeguard for children and protection against possible care lessness on the part of other occupants of the car.

It should joint between thedoor sections as above described, the upper section 14 cannot be closed without also closing the lower section 15, rendering impossible the creation of an opening in the space betweenthe closed upper section and the respective platform trap doors 12. In the particular embodiment shown in Fig. 3 the marginal edges of the upper and lower sections at the joint are adapted to function also as weather strips in conjunction with the overlapping abutment faces 22 on pieces 23 on the upper section 14.

The contiguous edges of adjacent sections at the joint are shrouded in pads 34 of suitable material, such as rubber or canvas, each built up of an underlying edge strip 31 glued or otherwise secured to rails 32 and 33 of the upper and lower door sections respectively and a superposed layer 35 of heavier material overlapping the strip 31 and preferably spaced therefrom to provide a cushion of sufi'icient depth to engage a corresponding cushion on the other section, and to provide a tight seal of such flexibility that ice packs forming over the joint in severe weather are readily broken by a pull exerted upon the handle 24 of upper section 14. The material is extended beyond the cushioned area of the seal to opposite sides of the respective rails 32 and 33 and there held by metallic wear the inside lower strips being overlapped by the abutment face 22 of strap pieces 23 securedto the upper section 14 as indicated in this figure.

When opened, the upper section 14 is held at the end wall 10 of the car by a second latch 28 fulcrumed to the ceiling plate 25 in position to engage the upper section 14 preferably at a point opposite the keeper block 27 for the ceiling latch 26. At stations, or at other points when: necessary, the lower section 15 may thereafter be opened bymeans of lock 30 disposed on said section and fitted with a plunger element 37 reciprocable only by the manipulation of the handle 38 disposed I on the outer side of the section as shown in latch 29 on its inner side designed to engage keeper hook .39 projecting from the base of flush cup 40 embedded in the end wall 10 as best shown in Figs. 6 and 8. As the latch 29 be further noted that with the engages the keeper 39 will be rotated against the action of the spring as it moves up the beveled face 42 of the keeper and until it lodges behind shoulder 43 thereof. It is operable by means of a lever handle 41 dieposed onjthe outer side of the section to disengage the latch from the keeper. The latch will hold the lower section in locked open position and serve also as an auxiliary retaining means for the upper section through the medium of abutment 22 provided by the depending rail strap 23 on the upper section 14 to thereby prevent the premature closing of the upper section.

' mechanism 7 pivotally mounted on the lower section 15 in position to engage the free edge of the trap-door. W'ith the trap-door and section 15 thus connected both sections would be held open by virtue of such interengagement in the event that the latch 29 failed to engage keeper 39 or became accidentally disengaged as will be obvious from an inspection of Fig. 5 of the drawings.

To close the door, it will first be necessary "to unlatch the trap-door 12 from section 15 and drop it to its closed position above the steps 8,, then to manipulate handle 41 to disengage latch 29 from keeper 39, after which the section is swung to its closed position and there held by plunger lock 30, whereupon the upper section 14 may be closed. Upon its release from auxiliary ceiling latch 28 the upper section is swung home and locked automatically by ceiling latch 26 operable from the platform but inaccessible to persons outside the car as previously stated.

From the foregoing it will be noted that the door opening operation must be initiated from the inside of the car, and that until then ingress to the train must be had from the end of a car or train. By this arrangement, the persons and property of the occupants of the car are afforded a greater degree of protection than that attainable with the vestibule arrangements heretofore employed. The character of the joint between the sections coupled with the particular disposition and relation of the locks securing them will necessitate that the upper section be released before the lower section and in reverse sequence for the door closing operation, or .closed simultaneously, thereby at all times insuring the safety of those aboard the car by avoiding the hazards attending the use of the for mer unitary vestibule door.

What I claim is 2-- 1. Incar vestibule construction, the combination comprising the platform, doors havper section.

4. In car vestibule construction, the combination comprising the'platform, and doors having sections releasable successively to open and close invreverse sequence.

5. In car vestibule construction, the combination comprising the platform, including the car end wall, and doors having sections releasable successively to open and to move away from said wall to close.

6. In car vestibule construction, the combination comprising the platform, including the vestibule ceiling plate, doors having upper and lower sections opening inwardly and operable successively, and automatic locking means on the ceiling plate adapted respectively to hold said upper sections open or closed. a

7. In car vestibule construction, the combination comprising the platform, including the vestibuleceiling plate, doors having upper and lower sections opening inwardly and operable successively, automatic locking means on the inner side of the upper section, and auxiliary locking means on the ceiling plate adapted respectively to hold said section open.

8. In car vestibule construction, the combination comprising the platform, doors having upper andlower sections operable successively and independently to open, and means carried by said upper section adapted to permit successive closing of the sections in reverse sequence, or simultaneously.

10. In car vestibule construction, the combination with the platform, including the car end wall and trap doors, of vestibule doors comprising upper and lower sections operable successivel to open towards the end wall, trap door atch mechanism on said low er sections for engagingthe trap doors when raised, said mechanism being adapted to hold said sections'and trap doors at the end wall position.

11. In car vestibule construction, the combination with the platform, including the car end wall, of vestibule doors comprising upper and lower sections operable successively to open towards said wall, abutment means on said upper section adapted for engagement with the lower section, locking means on said lower section, and keeper mechanism on the end wall adapted for engagement with said locking means.

12. In car vestibule construction, the combination with the latform, including the car end wall, of vesti ule doors comprising upper and lower sections operable successively to open towards said wall, and abutment means on said upper section adapted for engagement with the lower section.

13.- In car vestibule construction, vestibule doors comprising upper and lower sections operable successively to open, and abutment means on said upper section whereby the closing ofsaid sections is efiected in reverse sequence.

14. In car vestibule construction, vestibule doors comprising upper and lower sections having weather seals at the joint between the sections, and abutment means on one section adapted for engagement with the seal on the other section, whereby said sections are operable successively to open and in reverse sequence to close.

i 15. In car vestibule construction, vestibule doors comprising upper and lower sections having weather seals at the joint between the sections, and abutment means on the upper section adapted for engagement with the seal on the other section, whereby said sections" are operable successively to open and in reverse sequence, or simultaneously, to close.

16. As an article of manufacture adapted for use in combination with car vestibules, a multi-part door comprising an upper section haviiig operating mechanism only upon its inner side, and alower section having operating mechanism only upon its outer side,

and sealing mechanism between said sections.

17. As an article of manufacture adapted for use in combination with car vestibules, a two part door comprising an upper section having operating mechanism only upon its inner side, and a lower section having operating mechanism only upon its outer side, certain of the mechanism on said lower section being respectively engageable with adjacent trap doors and end wall portions of the vestibule.

In witness whereof I have hereto set my hand this 26th day of Sept, 1928.

EDWARD F. CARRY. 

